I made this twice. First time was overcooked but edible. I have a tendency to overcook, something about fear of poisoning myself and others around me just because the ingredients are raw-er than they should be. Food poisoning doesn’t sound like a dignified way to go, if you get what I mean.
The second time, I separated it into two bowls. One with chilli for me and one without for Ryan the Nephew. I’m a great aunt like that. You should be so lucky to have an aunt like me.
This is a real easy and simple way to enjoy your shrimps. By the way, do you know the difference between shrimps and prawns without googling? I don’t, they’re the same to me. I’d always thought that shrimps are smaller and prawns are bigger. According to this article, they are biologically different. Shrimps have large front pincers and shorter legs. Prawns have longer legs and their second pincers are big. Interesting eh? There, you learned something new today. With the following recipe, you’d learn two new things! La vida es maravillosa!
Here’s what you need for the Ryan-approved Spanish-style Baked Shrimps:
Ingredients:
– 400g Shrimp meat, de-shelled with tail intact, deveined
– 8 garlic cloves. More if you like, less if you like
– 1/3 cup / 80ml olive oil. I use extra virgin
– 1 tsp Salt
– Chilli Powder or Flakes for Adults (optional)
– 1 tsp Lemon Juice for Kids (optional)
– Fresh Italian parsley or cilantro/ coriander
First step: clean the shrimps. Village Grocer sells shrimp meat sans shells with tails intact, less work for me yay! But you still have to devein the darn things. Deveining prawns is a thankless job, and you only do it for the people whom you really love. It’s really so.not.fun.
Take a sharp knife and run it through the back part of the prawn. See the yucky black line thingy in the photo above? Toss. Do the same for the opposite part of the prawn, there would be a small, yucky clear line thingy. Toss. Rinse and repeat for all prawns.
At some point, you should pre-heat your oven to the highest setting for about 15 mins. Mine goes up to 250 degree Celcius.
Next: Lay the shrimps on a single layer on an oven-friendly baking dish. Or two dishes, if you are making an adult version (chilli) and a kids version (lemon juice). Feel free to arrange them like how I did. It earns you brownie points too, ‘cos your nephew would be praising you to high heavens for being so clever to make two prawns stick together like that.
Your garlic cloves should have been peeled and cut to thin slices. I love garlic and I go way liberal with them. You can add or reduce the amount of garlic, but I’m telling you that they taste absolutely yummy.
Sprinkle the salt all over the prawns. Add however much chilli powder of chilli flakes your taste buds can take. The amount of chilli powder that I added in the photo below wasn’t enough for me 🙁 I think chilli flakes give more kick.
For the kids version, you can opt to add the lemon juice. Or not. It makes some difference but not world-changing.
Lay out the garlic slices all over, then pour the olive oil on them.
Dump them into the pre-heated oven for about 8 to 10 minutes. They’ll come out looking like this:
Add some chopped parsley/ coriander if you want to. Serve to appreciative nephew.
Bask in the following adoring praises:
“Xiao Yi, this is the best prawn ever!”
“Xiao Yi, next time you should only cook this kind of prawn ok.”
“Xiao Yi, you are so clever!!”
“Xiao Yi, I love them so much! They are so delicious.”
“Xiao Yi, I don’t want to eat any other prawn but this prawn ok!”
Okay.
Xiao Yi…. Xiao Yi… Xiao Yi….
OK, I called you, where’s my share of prawns???
btw, they DO looked delicious…..
Just curious, did you use gas oven or electric oven. How’s the electricity bills. :p
imantulen: thank you thank you, your words make me happy… 😀 but no prawns for you! 😛
moo_t: electric oven. not bad ar, I don’t use it a lot and it’s quite energy efficient. our electricity bill is a killer cos of the air conds
I really think your prawns arrangement is genius SUanie!! Pretty 🙂
Hehehe, Ryan so cute….I loved the garlics sprinkled generously all over the prawns, extra nice!
i want some too xiao yi!
omggggggggggggg looks so yummy! i want!!!
Looks delish.
toss these into some pasta. sedap gila 😀
Tien: thanks! 😀 saves space as well
denise: oo when it’s cooked with the oil and prawn juice, SO YUM!
KY: ok make it yourself! 😀
kim: it’s so easy right??
ST: I thought it was 😀 if you don’t overcook the prawns la
Izad: Gr8 idea 😀 Need more chilli flakes for it though
Xiao Yi, which part of this makes it Spanish?
The sizzling oil when it’s done, the garlic and the chilli.
“I go way liberal with them”
You know, that phrase could be worth a fortune some day. Thanks!
I thought shrimps is US Eng. and prawns is Brit. Eng. Hmmm…..looks like I was wrong…..and I did learn something today!
suertes: indeed. mark the time and date.
in: i always thought it was the same, heh. well they taste the time, just evolution different
Never knew my Suanie can do all these delish. cooking! Sure looks good! The difference between shrimps and prawns, just got to know today, well, can tell my students about it. Keep up the good work!
you can use a satay skewer to devein your prawns, much less work. dont ask me how a non-cook like me knows this, it’s just one of the misc nuggets of info that sticks in my head. makes me look impressive to impressionable sisters (ash, not u).
a bit too much olive oil, no?
Aunt Yean: Heheh thanks. I also only just found out when I googled for the difference.
LT: Wah… I’ll try that next time 😛 Yeah this olive oil I used in this attempt was 1/2 cup, as per the recipe I had. Then I figured out it’s too much so my ingredient list is only 1/3 cup.
Babe i just made these to the letter (except i used seasoned salt instead of normal salt) and it was so good!!!
Wah I need to get myself some seasoned salt!